Pasta With Mushrooms and Cashew Cream

Recipe developer DeVonn Francis first came across nutritional yeast at a restaurant job, when chef Gerardo Gonzalez used the nutty yellow flakes to make homemade vegan Dorito dust. It's an inexpensive, shelf-stable ingredient that lends a distinct cheesiness when you don’t want or have the real thing. To create the creamy sauce for this pasta, Francis hydrates the yeast by blending it with cashews and pasta water until smooth. Might you mistake it for actual alfredo sauce? Maybe. Maybe not. It’s delicious either way. This recipe is part of the 2021 Feel Good Food Plan, our eight-day dinner plan for starting the year off right.